I have written about Safeco Insurance three times over the last two and a half years, and this is an accumulation of everything I have learned along the way. I truly hope it will help you in your research.

Safeco Insurance Overview

This overview of Safeco is admittedly the boring part. It has good information, but I won’t be upset if you want to skip ahead.

The company’s primary sales force is a network of independent agents and agencies licensed to sell their products. This is significant because it differs from popular companies like GEICO, Esurance and Progressive, which are direct-to-consumer companies.

What that means for you: In order to get a Safeco policy you must work through a licensed agent. There is no bypassing the human element by simply getting coverage over the phone or online. This can be important for someone who has a complicated insurance portfolio, but unnecessary for those who know what they are doing or want simple coverage.

It should be noted, however, that Safeco’s website does allow for you to start an online quote, and in many cases actually see a price. But the policy will ultimately be forwarded on to an agent before it can be finalized.

The other major difference is related to price, and why agent-driven insurance companies often cost more. I will go into more depth about this in the Rates and Premiums section below.

Products and Services

Safeco is a full service insurance company, and they sell a lot of stuff. Their bread and butter are auto insurance and home insurance products, but it does not stop there. Here is a breakdown of their primary product offerings, with my comments below the list:

Auto Insurance – The coverage options for their car insurance are standard. Comprehensive, collision, roadside assistance… you name it, they got it. This is usually the case for auto insurers unless you are talking about high-risk or non-standard insurance companies, which Safeco is not.

Home Insurance – Just like their car insurance coverage, their home insurance portfolio is pretty standard across the board. Homeowners insurance is not just limited to houses either, condo insurance falls under this category.

Renters Insurance – Think of this like a watered down home insurance policy that covers your stuff and potential liability that arises on the property you are renting, like a dog bite or kitchen fire. Safeco’s coverage here is normal, nothing out of the ordinary to report.

Classic Car Insurance – Like boat insurance, classic car coverage comes with agreed value, so you still get the predetermined amount of coverage, even if the car goes down in value. They also offer pet coverage (huh?) as an optional add-on. You know, in case Fido gets injured while hanging out the passenger window.

Motorcycle Insurance – Since many riding enthusiasts like to customize their bikes, coverage can be personalized to fit an individual’s motorcycle. Additionally, each policy comes standard with $1,000 of gear replacement (Helmet, boots, etc).

RV Insurance – Recreational Vehicle coverage comes standard with 150 days of use. So unless you live in your RV full time or travel across the country during the entire MLB season, their standard policy should cover enough days on the road.

Umbrella Insurance – Umbrella policies act as backups to primary coverage like auto and home insurance, adding an extra level of liability protection once those are exhausted. They also fill in the gap by covering things such as libel and slander lawsuits. Safeco’s website reports umbrella policies are sold in $1 million increments up to $5 million.

Ok, I may have been wrong when I said the overview was the boring part. If you managed to get through that entire list above, hat’s off to you.

Now for my opinion.

Somewhere along the line, insurance went from being a safety net to prevent financial disaster after some sort of accident or loss, to a bloated, oversold, worthless feature-packed product that is marketed as coverage.

Let me go on a slight tangent to explain what I mean – Insurance, at its core, is designed to make you financially whole after some major incident.

Lets say you cause $50,000 worth of damage in a car accident. That is what insurance is for. It is NOT for fixing a $200 dent in your bumper after backing into a light pole.

At some point insurance companies figured out they could sell (or include) all these ridiculous add-on features to insurance policies, and ultimately charge more money for the service.

Safeco is a prime example of this.

Take their Diminishing Deductible that is included in their auto insurance policies. Every year you go without an accident, your deductible goes down by $100 (up to a maximum of $500).

While it may be included in a car insurance policy, it certainly is not free. Insurance companies do not simply add-on features and additional coverage out of the goodness of their hearts. Its baked into the cost of the policy.

Not to mention the human psychology that goes into this. If you did happen to get into a small fender bender, you may think twice about filing a claim because you’re afraid of losing your vanishing deductible. They know this.

Accident Forgiveness is the same thing. If it is included in the policy automatically, you are paying for it.

In my opinion, these are marketing gimmicks that make for good commercials and sales pitches when sitting in an agent’s office.

Safeco is a personal lines insurance company that offers a number of different coverage types for individuals and families. Leading the way for Safeco is their auto insurance, which comes with standard coverage options such as liability, comprehensive and collision. While researching Safeco’s car insurance we came across a unique feature available to policyholders. Accident forgiveness. The marketing pitch implies that a good driver can have an accident wiped completely off their record and avoid insurance premium increases. But upon further examination of the program terms, we were left with a question unanswered. The information about the program states: IF you have no “at-fault” collisions or traffic violations in a set number of years, you may qualify for accident forgiveness. The problem is we were unable to find what a “set number of years” actually meant. According to our quote test, Safeco is one of the most expensive insurance companies we have ever reviewed. They came in more than 20% above the average, which was also the case when we reviewed them back in 2012. These inflated rates are to be expected from a company that packages a lot of extras into their policies. Such as diminishing deductibles and accident forgiveness. whether you want these or not, you end up paying for them in the end. Safeco claims for both auto insurance and home insurance are handled through the same department. They can be reached by calling 1-800-332-3226 According to comments left on our web site, there are a lot of unsatisfied drivers when it comes to Safeco’s claims process. Shelly K. writes: “My husband was in a hit and run fender bender. They are now totaling his completely repairable car using some very hazy math. We will be dropping them as soon as this nightmare is over.” Matt Kramer says: “Got hit by a Safeco driver. 100% his fault. He was ticketed and admitted fault. Safeco offered 80% of car value and no rental car in the interim. Getting any response from Safeco is like pulling teeth. You can read these, along with many more personal experiences with Safeco’s claim department, in the comments below the full review. Safeco is expensive, has a lot of driver complaints, and makes it difficult to get the full details of the mandatory add-on programs, such as, accident forgiveness. With so many reputable insurance companies offering much better pricing we do not recommend Safeco for your auto and home Insurance needs. For recommendations, check out our “Best Insurance Companies” page. You can find a link towards the top of our website.

Safeco Rates and Premiums

As mentioned above in the Overview, Safeco operates with an agent-driven sales model, which means customers must work directly with a licensed agent in order to get a policy.

While not always the case, insurance companies that use the agent-only model often cost more than their direct-to-consumer counterparts since they have to pay pretty hefty commissions for each new policy and renewal (anywhere from 5-20% of the total premium amount). On the flip side, direct-to-consumer insurance companies spend a lot on marketing, but make up the difference from bypassing the agent and their commissions. (Some direct insurance companies still sell through agents, though it’s not their primary sales tool)

Another thing that can drive up premium costs are the “add-ons” bundled into the policy, as discussed in the section above. Accident Forgiveness and Diminishing Deductibles simply add to the overall price the customer has to pay.

Quote Test

Whenever I get a quote from Safeco, the results seem to back up everything already mentioned in this section.

Safeco is expensive.

I ran a new quote test while writing this review, and Safeco came in almost 20% above the average for auto insurance (19.45% to be exact). This is nearly identical to the results from the previous two tests.

In Safeco’s defense, they are set up as a mutual insurance company, which means the policyholders are more like shareholders. Safeco can share the company profits by reducing premiums or issuing dividends, but that is not guaranteed. On the other side of the coin, they can increase premiums to cover shortfalls during bad years.

Advertising and Media

For those who reside in and around Seattle, Washington (like me), Safeco is a pretty big name when it comes to sports. The city skyline is flanked to the south by both the baseball field occupied by the Seattle Mariners, and the football field where the Seattle Seahawks play. The baseball stadium is called Safeco Field, and first opened in 1999.

Safeco bought the naming rights to the stadium prior to opening, and owns it until 2019.

Safeco is currently running what they call the “Do More” television advertising campaign, which features an older couple called Marty and Edna. The couple are frequently complaining (well, mostly Edna) about what others are doing, as they sit around and basically do nothing.

During my research about their advertising practices, I did not uncover anything that seemed alarming. For the most part, they try and compete with the humor-based TV ads frequently run by Allstate, State Farm and Farmers.

On a positive note, they do not heavily push the industry standard “Drivers Save $XXX by Switching To Us” mantra. Insurance companies that do this are taking advantage of the fact that most people switch because they save money. That’s why they can pretty much all make that claim. Not because they are generally cheaper.

Safeco Claims

The actual process of filing a claim with Safeco is fairly straightforward but limited in options. While many other insurance companies allow you file online or even through a mobile app, Safeco claims must be filed over the phone. The good news is the claims center is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

800-332-3226 – File a Claim

877-762-3101 – Roadside Assistance

Unfortunately, the good news stops at the claims center being open 24/7.

When researching for this Safeco review, one of the most frequent complaints I came across was their claims process and claims handling. If you take a peek at the dozens of comments left by other people at the bottom of this review, you will see what I mean.

But I don’t want to jump the gun. In the next section we will dive into actual customer feedback left on this website and others.

Customer Feedback

Claims, and rates, and service! Oh my!

When looking at customer complaints and testimonials, I frequently came across the same general issues – Claims, rates and customer service.

But don’t take my word for it. Here are comments left by others at the bottom of this review:

My parent’s have been with Safeco Home Insurance for 35 years and recently made a claim due to a slow leak that damaged their wood floors and created mold in the walls. The claims adjuster was really rude and they’ve been getting nothing but poor customer service. In the end they just received a call stating they are denying the claim…

-Kim Satterfield

We recently were told our company was being switched to Safeco. After receiving letters twice from Safeco stating our rates will not change, we get our policy within 2 weeks and sure enough they have raised them. No reasons given. And the increase was more than 40 dollars although the policy coverage has not changed what so ever. Thankfully we only have about a month and half before renewal. Insurance shopping we will be doing.

-Mrs Campbell

This has been the worst experience ever. I would not recommend this company to my worst enemy. Customer service is horrible. It took 5 months and 3 calls to 2 different supervisors just to get a call back from my adjuster. His manager did a terrible job of enforcing him to do his job. It is now basically June and my minor accident with clear liability happened in Aug of 2013 and it has still not been settled…

-Troy

I too was involved in an accident with a Safeco insured driver. Her fault….but what a nightmare dealing safeco. Adjuster works “part-time”, will not return a phone call, does not reply to email. Standard delay tactics….I have never seen such horrible customer service…

-Mark

The testimonials left on other consumer reporting websites are not any better.

On Pissed Consumer’s website, an individual said they were hit by a Safeco insured driver and the police determined the other party was at fault. But the claims department took a long time to make a determination and ultimately denied the claim.

A person from California wrote about their experience on Ripoff Report’s website after they were hit by a Safeco insured driver as well. According to them, Safeco shorted the initial damage payout by $500, and then when the person refused the payment, Safeco “reassessed” the claim and lowered the entire reimbursement by $1400.

Bottom Line

Safeco is NOT my favorite insurance company. Plain and simple.

I have personally helped many people navigate the murky waters of their claims process, find contact information when it is sparse, and provide an ear when someone simply needs to vent.

I believe they are overpriced in many instances (at least whenever I have received a quote from them) and their “mandatory” policy add-ons help to drive up those prices. I also think there are so many complaints about their claims department that they cannot justify those high costs.

In my opinion, there are too many other good insurance companies out there who provide better service and more competitive pricing.

Review Information

About Eric Stauffer

I am a former insurance agent turned consumer advocate. My priority is to help educate individuals and families about the different types of insurance they need, and assist them in finding the best place to get it.

Comments

My parents were insured by Safeco for decades on their homeowners policy. Perfect customers. Sadly they both passed away recently and we have put the home on the market. Got a letter recently from Safeco saying they were gonna send out some inspection company to do a routine review of our clean $300k home.

Sure enough they did the inspection and found a very clean well maintained home for sale in an upscale neighborhood for $300k. A few weeks went by and then we get the nasty gram letter in the mail from Safeco Insurance,

it read to the effect ” Uh …yeah we sent an inspector out to your home and it was empty and for sale. Oh and we know your parents passed away (our meager condolences) and yes we are going to drop your policy like a hot potato. Please find coverage elsewhere.

Thanks for all those great years of coverage Safeco. I will be sure to tell 100 of my friends about the lack of ethics and integrity practiced at Safeco Insurance and for them never to choose Safeco for any of their insurance needs..

This company will rip you off, do not insure with them. They’re so called strict deadlines and policy’s are a joke. They do not work with the policy holders what so ever, if you are a day late, they will cancel your policy and make you repay the down and payment and the first months payment. Their customer service support is rude and terrible and do nothing to help you, they act like its a chore to work with policy holders. I am not only reporting them to the better business bureau, but reporting Safeco insurance to my brother in law the attorney general. I repeat do not insure with Safeco.

I agree , I also had Safeco Insurance, worst company I ever dealt with. Poor customer service, don’t dare file a claim, they NON-Renewed me for NO GOOD REASON. One of our vehicles was involved in an accident (OTHER DRIVERS FAULT) Other insurance company paid the claim, and still Safeco dropped us. I got better treatment from Progressive, the other drivers Insurance, they were more helpful, more friendly than Safeco .

Imagine that.A WORD TO THE WISE DO NOT SIGN UP FOR Safeco, no matter what great rates they have.

My mom is very elderly and I manage her 2 rental properties. We have been with Farmers for years but the rates keep increasing annually so I am shopping around. I have had a hard time finding companies that write landlords policies in Colorado. I am considering Safeco for a landlords policy since they are 30% lower on their quote than our current policy but I can’t get any information about whether or not they are a good company for this type of policy or how any company rates for landlords policies as far as customer service, satisfaction, claims, etc.

If I were you, I would find some websites or forums that are targeted toward rental property owners and ask your question there. Niche community sites love to help each other, and I am sure there would be a number of people who would have first-hand knowledge about Safeco’s landlord insurance policies.

Unfortunately, our research for Safeco is geared for consumers, and not necessarily those looking for landlord insurance.

My parent’s have been with Safeco Home Insurance for 35 years and recently made a claim due to a slow leak that damaged their wood floors and created mold in the walls. The claims adjuster was really rude and they’ve been getting nothing but poor customer service. In the end they just received a call stating they are denying the claim. What avenues can my parents take to argue their case? The adjuster said had the leak occurred two weeks ago then they would be covered. However, it was a slow leak therefore not noticeable for a few months later. Any advice you can provide would be appreciated. My parents are really upset over the recent decision. Also, we can’t seem to find the CEOs emails contact. Thanks, Kim

Just because an adjuster says no, does not mean that is the end of it. There are a few avenues your parents can take, but it will depend on how much damage we are talking about.

If there is a relatively small monetary damage amount, then you can start by hammering them on the phone over and over. You can also try sending a letter directly to the corporate office. The address is:

1001 Fourth Ave. Seattle, WA 98154

Basically becoming the squeaky wheel.

If there is significant damage, it may make sense to hire an attorney.

What I do not quite understand is what you mean by “The adjuster said had the leak occurred two weeks ago then they would be covered.” Did the policy lapse?

As far as the CEO’s email address, I do not have it. But I have seen his profile on LinkedIn. His name is Matthew Nickerson.

We recently were told our company was being switched to Safeco. After recieving letters twice from Safeco stating our rates will not change, we get our policy within 2 weeks and sure enough they have raised them. No reasons given. And the increase was more than 40 dollars although the policy coverage has not changed what so ever. Thankfully we only have about a month and half before renewal. Insurance shopping we will be doing.

After Eric’s help pinning down company president name and address I wrote a letter on 8-14-14, and today I got an email response from a man on behalf of the pres. They are refunding our out of pocket expense and using my letter to improve customer experience. Thank you very much. Lori Campbell

Before I got a reasonable deal from Safeco, I went through over a year of misery. Safeco quickly took responsibility for the claim and told my carrier they would handle my claim. After three months of nonsense from Safeco, i insisted that my carrier take over the case after realizing Safeco was messing with me. I quickly received a partial payment from my carrier(it was less my $1000 deductible and didn’t include rental car coverage) and they embarked on 6 months of mediation with Safeco. To get payments for my medical expenses required me to go to court — luckily the expenses were less than the Small Claims Court maximum of $10,000 in California. I secured a judgment against the driver that rear ended me and Safeco sent a check in a couple weeks. [Redacted], the claims adjuster, couldn’t help but make that process miserable as well.

The first check I received was minus the court ordered fees. I cashed the check and requested another for the fees. I later received a check for the judgment plus fees. I called customer service and asked what I should do with the over payment. She checked the records and noted both checks had stop payments on them. Unbeknownst to me, I had incurred bank charges for the first check when Safeco stopped it. Ms. Bach later had a 3rd check issued. I requested a note saying that this time she would not again stop the check. I copied the CEO’s office to ensure her compliance. [Redacted] offered by email, “I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.” No apology, no notice, imperial attitude. This is one bad organization but I’m glad your result was better than mine. If ever hit by a Safeco insured driver, assume the worst, call the police and be sure EVERYTHING is documented.

Wondering if you can tell me the President’s name and address for Safeco. I want to write a letter of complaint because I cant get their adjuster to contact me. I was hit by one of their customers Jan. 9th, 2014, and I am out of pocket $95 for a rental car. Only had the car for 5 days, without my car for over 2 weeks. My insurance and myself have made repeated attempts to contact the adjuster, his voicemail says he returns calls and emails within 24 hours, nothing. It’s not even about the money anymore, but the fact that their customer service is awful. Thank you.

Safeco rep contacted me and stated that my insurance co was turning all its auto policy’s over to safeco and that was due to happen with in next month. Due to Safeco being a reputable company I believed him and ended up with 2 policy’s on my cars. They agreed to refund me part of my money for this month but it does not make up for the way they got my policy. When I contacted my insurance company they were unaware that this had occurred. Now I am out of $280, and on a fixed income. I do admit to not following up like I should have but Safeco is supposed to be a reputable company.

We are considering Safeco Auto Insurance and the agent has encouraged us to enroll in the Rewind program, however, after reading the fine print, I’m not so sure its a good deal for us. Do you have information from consumers (pro or con) that might help us make our decision?

I’ve had only bad experiences with Safeco. They will only pay when faced with overwhelming evidence and will cheap out on the payment. Even after court judgments are issued, they play games with payments. Their initial rates may be good, but don’t count on fair and reasonable service and payments. My experience was with the Los Angeles office with an auto matter.

I would like to say Safeco agent lied to me about being able to insure my motorcycle when I transferred my auto insurance. Very upset that after 11 days of having insurance to find out the company will not insure my new motorcycle after stating that I could add it. I would not refer Safeco to anyone through WellsFargo.

I saw the most recent posting today. I am thinking that Anonie Mous is right and the Texas agency that has an A+ rating is probably one of several agencies IN TEXAS. As I have previously said, when I lived in the Midwest (Illinois and Wisconsin), I did not have any irregular problems with Safeco.

I did receive from Safeco several days ago a notice that I am being transferred to another agency. No reason was given, but it the new agency is better than the one I wound up with when I moved to California, that’s a good thing. Another juncture is about to show up for me. Most probably I am moving to San Bernardino in another month or so. Let’s see if there will be another agency change. I can tell you already, there is something I really like about San Bernardino. They do not drive like Mad Hatters. That includes the [Redacted].

I read thru these until I got to the comment re: SAFECO not being accredited by the BBB. I immediately researched this on the BBB website as I had been told by a rep they have an A+. They do. I also checked with the TX Board of Insurance b4 I bought my VASTLY lower premium policies yesterday and TX rates them as A+. So, I just stopped there and figure I’ll go with what I know personally until I know differently. Good luck to everyone!

I filed the claim with Safeco for wind and hail damage to my property. The adjuster came he was a nice guy but then all the sudden started taking pictures of every single little thing he said ill get back to you in a couple days. I found that my claim was being denied and getting an email 2 days later saying that my policy will not be renewed for the next year because of my sidewalk issues I have prior to me buying the house and I had hanging shingles. If the company was good on there word the hanging shingles should of been resolved but no instead of thinking of the customer they cancel your policy. Just remember that when you’re trying to get safeco

We signed up with Safeco using an online agent. We had the down payment taken from our account. Once we received the paperwork and cards, there was a glitch. The quote given us was wrong, we had to pay $100.00 per month MORE then the quote. I cancelled immediately, and STILL have not received our refund. It has been almost 1 week, and was told our account would be credited within 2 days. SHAME ON YOU SAFECO!

Peggy… I am beginning to wonder about PARTICULARLY the service provided to insureds and potential insureds in the State of California.

I have had Safeco for approximately 4 years. I signed on in Illinois and had no problems. I moved to Wisconsin and had my insurance transferred there with no problems that I could not get resolved. I recently moved to California, had a mishap on the road, and it seems like things are coming apart. It must have something to do with the “agencies” that sell for Safeco or are assigned insureds by Safeco from another state. Something’s awry.

I keep noticing in submitted comments that the appropriate contact information creates bottlenecks in resolving claims and disputes. (I also have noticed the complaints about Safeco.)

How I got to your website. I have been having some concerns about Safeco for a few years but simply looked past them because I had a full plate of other concerns. I did not worry much because the association has been a 4 or 5 year association with them and I had no at-fault accidents even well before changing over to Safeco. I left State Farm in a serious dispute after being with them for 10 years, and Safeco welcomed my Volvo and me.

I recently moved to California from Wisconsin (where I wound up paying a near 20-25% increase in auto insurance last year… it was statewide). Moving to California, I found myself with a premium $10.00 less than in Wisconsin, but I lost my zero deductible.

Just about 30 days after I tested for and received my California driver’s license, I had a fender bender — actually, it was all glass. The involved parts were my driver’s side headlight lens and my turn signal lens. My lights in both configurations still work. It was a weird accident with a tanker truck. I did not hit it from behind, I was trying to avoid a stalled car in the left turn box from rolling back on me (we were on an incline and the driver apparently put his vehicle in neutral… or somethin’, but it started rolling back on me). I will not take up more space giving you the blow by blow account, however, I was trying to turn right out of the left turn box with my blinkers on to notify oncoming drivers of a problem. The tanker truck did not yield to me but was stopped at the light. As I tried to turn, my headlight area made contact with that long lower bar that is on all trucks (it extends the width of the truck or tank and usually has red and white striped tape on it). The result was glass breakage. No body damage; the red and white tape was punctured and torn just a bit in the spot where my glass began to break.

I furnished a statement to the Safeco Claims examiner and have just received a letter from her that it has been determined I was 100% at fault and the determination was based on facts uncovered by Safeco’s investigation which shows that I failed to maintain proper lookout and safe distance, resulting in a collision with the tanker truck…it will be my responsibility to pursue recovery for any out-of-pocket losses I may have incurred. Now, I have the right to ask for reconsideration and I should put my request in writing and direct it to “Title 10 Review Committee” in care of Safeco at PO Box 515097, Los Angeles, CA 90051.

First of all, when I called in the mishap, I was asked if my vehicle was under $24,000 when purchased. (What’s with that?) When I took the vehicle to their elaborate looking body shop hidden away on some very small street, the consultant brought out a camera and told me he had to take pictures of the entire car and its interior. I got an estimate for over $350 because he wanted to replace the entire headlight and signal light assemblies which would require Safeco to engage the $250 deductible portion of my policy. I seem to recall that he asked me some sort of question about whether I intended to keep my car for long. I rudely told him if my car came up missing, his shop would be the first place I would visit.

This is long (sorry… but I am almost finished). I am a do-it-myselfer and looked up the lens, the gasket and clips and the signal light lens. The whole enchilada will cost me under $100. I haven’t ordered this stuff yet, but this is the route I intend to take. I advised the body shop by email on May 2nd that I would be handling the repair myself. The letter containing the advice about my 100% fault was written May 3rd. I cannot find a Title 10, California Code of Regulations (with Safeco or the State of California) that deals with passenger vehicles. I have a driving record, almost stellar, for some 50 years, and I do not think I will take this one sitting down. For starters, this determination letter will hurt me if I decide to look for other insurance; I do not know what they are going to do with it in terms of advising the DMV; truck drivers are suppose to yield when there could be a possibly hazardous condition taking place — he did not and I know he saw my blinkers. The damage was under $700, but this “at-fault” propaganda may hurt my driving record.

Now, Safeco might have been trying to clear the truck driver because he told me he was on probation for some other things that he got involved in that actually were not his fault. I liked the guy, but I was not going to sit in that left hand turn box and allow the rolling car to take my headlights, grill and possibly push in my hood over the grill. My car is 13 years old and Safeco would try to total me.

Do you think something sounds fishy about this investigation that found me to be 100% at fault? I provided a carefully worded and lengthy statement to claims adjuster who never came out to examine the vehicle. The body shop did it for her.

I do not think this incident will have much of a lasting impact on your overall insurance experience, even if you do look for coverage elsewhere. It may end up knocking you off of the highest status level for a year or two, but something that barely hits the deductible really shouldn’t do much. Of course, I am not a rate adjuster for any of these companies, so I cannot be 100%.

The fact is that the accident was reported to the insurance company, so whether you were found at full fault or partial fault, it really does not matter at that dollar amount. Its still a small blemish either way.

In addition, most insurance companies do not look at minor infractions for more than about three years.

If you want to push your case, I would recommend to keep filing appeals. The squeaky wheel often gets the oil.

This has been the worst experience ever. I would not recommend this company to my worst enemy. Customer service is horrible. It took 5 months and 3 calls to 2 different supervisors just to get a call back from my adjuster. His manager did a terrible job of enforcing him to do his job. It is now basically June and my minor accident with clear liability happened in Aug of 2013 and it has still not been settled. If anyone has any contact info as to where I can make a real complaint I would greatly appreciate that info because at this point this company needs to be shut down. Absolute worst customer service I have ever experienced in life.

Troy, here is the info I was just given by [REDACTED] who claimed to be a supervisor when I asked for a corporate phone number, she gives me an address instead. Their customer service is non-existent so dont bother asking them a question. You will be “respectfully declined your request” for ANY info, at all. Ever.

Safeco Insurance Company P.O. Box 515097 Los Angeles, CA 90051

I hope safeco is out of business soon. They don’t do anything but steal money and act ignorant about anything that is their responsibility. Good luck.

I too was involved in an accident with a Safeco insured driver. Her fault….but what a nightmare dealing safeco. Adjuster works “part-time”, will not return a phone call, does not reply to email. Standard delay tactics….I have never seen such horrible customer service….and this is a relatively minor incident. God help you if it’s a major incident…..what a bunch of [Redacted] they are.

We are in the middle of a SafeCo nightmare also. My husband was in a hit and run fender bender. They are now totaling his completely repairable car using some very hazy math. We will be dropping them as soon as this nightmare is over. STAY AWAY FROM SAFECO.

Wow! I have also been hit by a Safeco insured. Completely his fault, and he readily admitted it. The entire thing has been a nightmare. They want to replace parts with refurbished parts, not made by Honda on my less than 1 year old Honda Accord. I was told by the body man not to accept this. Found out today, that he almost lost his job for telling me that, and he no longer wants to work on my car because of all the trouble he got in for telling me about their dishonest way of doing business. Now my insurance company has had to get involved, and they let me know they were about to suggest we switch our home, secondary home, boat, and umbrella to this very company! That’s NOT gonna happen. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

If you are in California, I believe there are new regulations requiring the use of new parts. My car was hit by a Safeco driver almost a year ago and I still have not settled. I turned it over to my insurance company and they are now in arbitration with Safeco. Safeco is a rude, arrogant organization and should be avoided at ALL costs.

I called Safeco the 30th April 2014 after a tree from my property fell onto my neighbors deck and roof. I’ve never been in this position before and thought calling my insurance was the right thing to do the woman that i talked to said that it was up to the home that the tree fell on to call their insurance but would I like to file a claim I said i better had I was taking her advice.Now it seems I shouldn’t of made a claim , I want it closed but it looks like i might have a fight on my hands. I need the right wording to get through to the people that put a claim in for me under really bad advice from the claim center. HELP!!!!

Unfortunately, once you make the claim, you cannot really “take it back.” They have already been notified, and now they may or may not use that information going forward, even when calculating your future rates.

It is like car insurance – If you get in a fender bender that costs a few hundred dollars to repair, a lot of people work it out themselves since it will not even hit the deductible. However, if anyone notifies their insurance company, they now have record of an incident, whether they pay for it or not. They can choose the calculate future premiums using that information.

Now, the question of whether it is ethical to not notify your insurance company is another topic altogether, and some insurance plans require notification, regardless of how small the event is.

I would not recommend to anyone that has a second home or vacation home to use Safeco. We purchased our home new in 2007 lived in it full time until 2014 and had to move to Arizona for doctors care. We heard recently that our homeowners insurance would not be renewed at the maturity of the policy because our home is for sale. This home is new has furniture in it and our neighbors watch over the house while we are gone. Safeco says this is a vacant home, which it is not. I have a high credit score above 800, have owned 8 homes in my life time and keep our homes in perfect condition. I even gave them our automobile policy and their rates are $30 more a month than other carriers. This shows me what this company offers in the way of Customer Service.

Safeco makes it impossible to contact them directly, your only communication channel is with your insurance agent. What the insurance community did to me was the agent wrote me a policy, took my annual premium then came back 30 days later and said they would not insure my home for reasons that were clearly marked on the insurance application. If a home has brick siding and you put brick siding on the application then ALL of the information was disclosed up front and the insurance agent and/or company can either accept or reject to provide you with insurance. My agent filled out the application, signed the agreement, took my full annual premiums then informed me thirty days later that the insurance company would not insure brick homes. I was forced to move to another company, Safeco, and my agent did the same exact thing with Safeco. The agent wrote another application, took my full annual premiums (approx. $3700) and within three months Safeco was billing me for an additional 400 with no explanation of the charges. I was already in for approximately 3700 to the previous insurance and now I have an additional expense of another 3700 to Safeco and Safeco starts billing me for additional premiums. Here is what CEO of the insurance said when I asked for an explanation of the additional 400 charges. “The insurance companies can change rates anytime they want, they look at your previous insurance policies and determine whether you are going to be a profitable client, if they determine you do not meet their criteria they raise your rates.” In effect what my agent did to me was force me to cancel my insurance policy then the next insurance company could charge me higher rates which works out great for my agent who is profiting from the additional expense of my insurance. I am unclear if I have the most incompetent insurance company or if the company they represent, Safeco is capable of selecting competent insurance agents. since I cannot contact Safeco directly I am forced into letting these incompetents extort money out of me until my Attorney can process the paperwork.

Bottom line is do not insure through any company that you cannot talk with directly meaning you cannot find a telephone number for them anywhere. Your insurance agent can take advantage of you and you will be forced to pay much higher insurance rates because it put more commission money in your insurance agent’s pocket to do so.

Hi john, I just finished reading your comment about safeco. I’m sorry to hear about your bad luck. I am going thru the same issue with safeco. I was wondering if you would be willing to share your attorneys contact information with me? My agent screwed us too and now safeco keeps charging us ridiculous amounts. I will contact your attorney and let him/her know you referred me. Maybe the attorney will see that it could turn out to be a big case and become a privileged attorney to all safeco customers being screwed by safeco for an even larger end result!

Had 2 claims with deer involved .First claim on my wife’s vehicle was handled with no problem.On my vehicle we didn,t see the estimate and we received a check for repairs in the mail. When the repair was completed we went to pay the body shop and the bill was 250.00 higher than the check and out deductible.The owner of the body shop showed me the estimate and when my agent contacted Safeco about the difference they said that the claim was handled by a west coast adjuster instead of a Midwest adjuster. The adjuster told my agent that a part was 250.00 less on the west coast.My agent has been tring to get an answer for 2 months if that included freight from west coast.All we have been tring to get is an answer to that question but nobody seems to want to answer. Make you wonder if they really want the business.

I am in disbelief reading all the comments on this website. I’ve had 2 claims with Safeco, and I could not have asked for better service. The adjuster went above and beyond what was asked for. Needless to say, I will be a Safeco customer for life.

Did you look at the bills? Safeco charged me almost $1500 in administrative, towing, stocking and other charges that I had to eat. I was stopped at a stop sign when a Safeco driver hit me from behind without breaking. Safeco treated me like I was a criminal.

I was hit in the left side front wheel area by a Safeco insured.. I was turning right (South) and the insured was going North and turned too quick and hit me in the left front wheel area. His wind- shield was frosted up and also cracked multible times on the drivers side. I received no damage to the front of my car. All the damage was in the left bumper/fender/wheel area, but Safeco adjusters stated that it was my fault, that I swerved out and hit thier insured. I tried my best to explain to Safeco adjusters, that if I hit thier client’s car, the front of my car would have been damaged. But I don’t think anyone at Safeco has had schooling in Physics, we all know that if one hits someone (or something) head on it will damage the front of the car, not the side. Also I saw him coming and had stopped dead still when I was hit. I presented Safeco photos showing the position of my car at the time of the accident, and the damage. and tried to explain the physics to the ajusters with no prevail. I basically received the same results from Safeco as the other complaints posted on this site ..Safeco insurance is below words. They would have to look up to look a Bull Frog in the eyes!!!. I now can understand why they are not accredited by the BBB

I recently was shopping for quotes. A safeco representative contacted me. I thought it entirely odd and completely unprofessional for the agent to insinuate insurance fraud while speaking to a potential client. RED FLAG. Thanks for the reviews. I will stick with my long time reputable company. Looks like I may have dodged a bullet. I will be sure to share with friends and family.

Avoid this company at all costs. A young driver hit me and was insured by this company. It has been a nightmare to even communicate with them. They pulled what I see others saying here that they could not reach the insured. Lies! He called them from the scene. Then they said that could not get the police report. Lies! I scanned it over. Then they claimed I refused a taped statement. Lies! I gave it immediately. I’ve tried to contact them almost daily and only get voicemail. On day 16 somebody finally returned my phone calls. The collision shop also called them and their calls were ignored as well. Even though their driver was ticketed at the scene and clearly at fault, they are now stonewalling and trying to get me to take the blame. I have never worked with anyone who avoids phone calls like this. Their voicemail say they will return a call in 24 hours, but then they never do. I have been handed off to multiple people and no one calls back. Where are they hiding and who is supervising these people? In an email, one manager said she left me many voicemails. Lies! I keep records. I received ONE call. They are unprofessional and ridiculous. Do not give them your money. Go with a quality insurance company. I use Geico, and their customer service is exemplary. Even during this time, I get a daily call from Geico, even if it is just to check in. They should teach Peerless how to run a company.

I thought Safeco had singled me out. My accident was May 2013 when a Safeco-insured driver rear-ended me at full speed when I was at a stop sign. She was texting and didn’t notice me or the stop sign.

Safeco treated me like I was a criminal. They offered a claim then reduced it by admin and storage charges — all because they took two months to offer a settlement. After I reported their illegal behavior to the CA insurance commission, they retaliated.

I never could settle with them and withdrew the claim and went to my insurance company, Farmers. Farmers paid me put is in a protracted lawsuit with Safeco now. My medical claims are still not settled because they want a full and unconditional release by paying out of pocket expenses to my doctor and a small bit to my lawyer.

I’ll be taking them to court as soon as I get up the energy to file the documents.

I’m hoping some class action lawyer picks up on them and sues for all victims to keep those pirates at Safeco from taking advantage of more people.

Worst experience in my life. This kid driving a brand new BMW insured with SAFECO and hit me while doing an illegal U-Turn in the middle of the street. He damaged the right side of my vehicle damaging my front bumper, drivers door, right control arm etc.. I file a claim with SAFECO and SAFECO has taken their sweet time to resolve the issue. I am about to reach the “30 day investigating period” and they can’t reach the witness in order to complete the claim so I’m stuck waiting. My patience is running out. Ff they don’t comply I’m going to have take legal action. From reading the comments I’m not the only one that has had a hard time with SAFECO.

Never will I ever use Safeco for my insurance needs. Worst company ever. I was recently hit by a Safeco insured vehicle. It was there fault. They picked up my vehicle which was totaled, and made me return the rental they gave me after 1 week. 3 weeks later I still have not received a check for the vehicle they totaled and have been getting the run around on when I will receive it. I’am now using a rental which I am paying for out of my pocket because I cannot afford to buy another vehicle until they pay me for the one they totaled out. Terrible customer service and I would not recommend using these people ever. Hopefully , no one gets involved in an accident who is insured by Safeco.

I would like to leave my own review of this company. I had previously had my vehicle covered by Safeco years ago. I decided to switch from them since they seemed to cost quite a bit, and raised their prices without informing their customers. Now, Oct of 2013, a young driver with Safeco failed to stop at a red light at an intersection, and hit me as I was turning onto the right lane of the highway. The [redacted] driver admitted fault, and I filed a claim to have my husband’s truck repaired. Well, Safeco’s claim specialist has been dancing around the claim, saying he is unable to contact the witness or my insurance claim specialist. I’ve tried contacting the Safeco adjuster several times, leaving numerous messages on his phone. Now, my insurance company has found me at no fault for the accident, so they will not pay the other party’s damages. The witness’s statement put me in the clear. However Safeco is still trying to place blame on me and is refusing to pay for the damages. Now I have to get a lawyer and fight for my claim, all the while suffering medical problems due to Safeco’s and the driver’s negligence. I would never recommend Safeco to anyone, seeing how they are unprofessional and do not properly investigate claims.

Not pleased with Safeco at all. My husband and I have had them for nearly 10 years, and just had our policy cancelled after a single claim. The total claim cost them less than $5,000 which they made A LOT more over the life of our relationship. I guess they are good until you actually need them.

Never……….Safeco company service is horrible. There services are very horrible and disrespectful……I just was calling them for some reason….but the guy on the phone was giving me an attitude……..he also hung up the phone on me……….As a customer, I have my rights to be treated as one.

On September 11, a Safeco driver rear-ended the car behind me which hit my car which caused my car to hit the car in front of me (4 car accident.) I called my wonderful insurance agency (Geico) and filed a claim at the scene but decided not to go through them for fear of higher premiums. I immediately called Safeco to give my side of the story and spent 45 minutes on the phone. They told me on 3 separate occasions that I could not get a rental car through them until they determined liability. 4 weeks later and my car is still sitting at the collision center untouched because they haven’t received a check yet. My claim was sent to a different adjuster who then assured me that they would reimburse for a rental. I racked up over $1000 for a rental. Two months after the accident they told me their driver admitted fault but would not send me a check because they hadn’t talked to everyone involved. They refused to call the other drivers claiming they have left numerous voicemails with them. I finally just went through Geico and my car was fixed in no time. $6,100 in damages. My claim is still sitting on the desk at Safeco untouched even though I’ve called them twice a week since the accident. I am still waiting on reimbursement for my rental and deductible. If you are ever involved with a Safeco driver hire a lawyer and get mean.

I signed on with Safeco in 2011. In the past three years I have been with them, my policy goes up $300 dollars at every renewal. Their explanation is that there are costs that have increased the policy. Note that I have never filed a claim with them and have not made any changes to my home.

I do not recommend this company to anyone. We are looking for another carrier.

They do the same thing to me. Every year my homeowners insurance goes up 24%. They, Safeco, claim its because of Hurricane Sandy, and other things like inflation, the the high labor / construction costs in New England. I have not filed a single claim, But every year, there is the 24% increase. By the sounds of the other people on this site, I’m going to start shopping around.

My grandfather and dad were covered by SAFECO for years and years. When I became a driver I got a policy with them for my vehicle. After paying premiums for about 5 years with no tickets, accidents nor claims I received a cancellation notice from them. I called and the answer they gave me for cancellation was that I was in the U.S. Army therefore I would let every other soldier drive my car. i informed them that I was married, lived off post in my own apartment with my wife and that no one else drove our car. They said “Sorry, but that’s what the stats tell us”….. Stay away from this insurance company. Although this was years ago it still stings like it happened yesterday. They do not support our military!

A Safeco insured driver ran a stop sign and I t-boned him. They admitted 100% fault and offered a fair settlement on my car. Gave me an address to send my title to that does not exist so it is getting returned to me. This is delaying the settlement check 5 more days. I have also had a non stop battle to keep the rental car. They have canceled it 3 times on me so far. As of tomorrow I am without a rental and no way to get to medical appointments. This company is a bunch of [REDACTED].

Safeco is just a bunch of [REDACTED] artists all wrapped together to take advantage of people. I received a good quote $168 down and $68 a month after that. Well I set it up on EFT for the first of every month. The first of the month came and they took their money.A week later I was shocked to see my bank account overdrawn. Safeco took the $168 out AGAIN in the same week without notifying me. Now this was the first month I had ever dealt with them and they were already double dipping into my account. I contacted my agent who said I would have my money before the weekend. Needless to say that didn’t happen. So because they took two payments out in a week and sent me into the negative in my account I didn’t receive a paycheck for two weeks until my account was no longer overdrawn.( They are responsible for my fees ). I gave them a few days and talked to another agent who then told me it takes 7 to 10 business days for my refund to be processed. Well now it has been over two weeks and I contacted them earlier just for them to tell me it takes 14 business days and they need to hold it and not deposit it into my account just in case there are insufficient funds in my account. Hmmm even if it were it was their fault, I don’t understand that crap. Everyone I speak with gives me a different answer. I’m so frustrated. They are quick to take it from me but when it comes to putting it back its a process. I decided to double check my monthly bill to make sure it was still $68. Good thing I asked because I was told I owe $234 on the first of the month. Now WTF??? The agent said it was a double payment. Well $68 and $68 is not $234 obviously. So she looked into it for me and told me that because of the refund they wanted most of my premium up front. Like any of that was my fault. It was an error on their end and I am being penalized because I insisted I wanted my money back. IT WAS THEIR ERROR! Safeco was not going to notify me of any of this. The people who helped me over the phone were extremely rude. They gave me attitude and made me feel like I’m stupid and I should have just known what they NEVER TOLD ME TO BEGIN WITH. They were trying to rush me off the phone and just plain mean. They didn’t help whatsoever and I will post back and let everyone know if I have received my refund yet. I will keep you updated on all their [REDACTED] and excuses. I wanted to file with the Better Business Bureau but I will give them three more days and if I’m still left hanging with no answers, you bet I will file with them. Then I will be sure to find a new insurance company that wont double dip into the tiny amount of money that I do have. If you like smoke up your [REDACTED] this is the insurance company you want because that’s all they will do for you.

I was t-boned by a Safeco driver in a brand new 2014 car. I was told they would not total it even though it had frame damage. They went on to say they didn’t have to use Kia parts on the car even though it voided the warrenty on this less than a month old car. They said it would be ready in 7 days after a month the car was said to be fixed. It would take another page to list everything wrong with the car when we got it . We took it right back. This is bad enough but dealing with this company is impossible they are rude and act if we are in the wrong for wanting the new car we had when there driver hit me. We still owe for the price of a new car but what we have is junk .

Not impressed with this company at all. I have had my rates raised the last two times I have renewed, and by a significant margin as well. Have been with them for over 10 years, and my rates have almost doubled in the last 24 months with no tickets, accidents, nothing. I’m looking elsewhere.

Do not trust your home or car to this company SAFECO. THEY WILL STICK IT TO YOU!!!!! They will come up with some clause so they don’t have to fix any damage. I had wind damage done to my home and property and they flat out refuse to pay for the repairs. Some of the claim adjusters are not competent and thus you suffer. Not to mention it takes them forever to get things moving. They expect you to make your payments on time but they do not take care of their customers. I agree with the many complaints. HIRE A LAWYER TO READ THE CONTRACT BECAUSE THEY HAVE CLAUSES IN THERE THAT PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT. BUT IF YOU WANT TO AVOID ALL OF THIS AGGRAVATION DO NOT TRUST SAFECO. BUY YOUR INSURANCE FROM SOME OTHER COMPANY.

I filed a homeowners claim with Safeco in August, because my hardwood flooring was cupping. By the time a field inspector came in October my floor had exploded; it was raised about 4 inches. I wish I could post the pictures for all to see. The claims adjuster sent [Redacted] to investigate. He found mold and moisture, failing insulation and damaged duct work. We had a rainy season, but my house has never flooded. I was told that the damage was caused by a leak behind my tub. The wall where the leak was found is not near the area where the floor is damaged. The water skipped the bathroom floor and damaged the family room, kitchen and closet where the leak was. These people will take your money and not pay claims. Maybe we need to file a class action lawsuit!!!!!

Am reviewing our policies and after seeing the negative feedback will not be renewing my Safeco policy. I was rear ended at a red light less than 3 months after purchasing my car, and fought like heck to get Safeco to use factory parts as my car was virtually new. I thought this was an isolated experience however now see it was not.

We have had the worst experience of a lifetime with safeco insurance. After six years of trying to settle with them after a car accident that has left life changing injuries to me, they chose to take it all the way to a trial. Their client is now 95 years old and they chose to make her go to court for four days. Is that the way an insurance company takes care of their client who has paid premiums for 15+ years? If you have this insurance drop it fast as they will not represent you well. They resort to lies, surveillance, and threats. Our lawyer and court fees are huge and Safeco threatened to sue us for the costs they might incur. I am sure they spent more on their legal fees than the amount we proposed that they make in their settlement. They are also known to work the system as do other insurance companies to get the verdicts heard in rural areas that are poor and have high unemployment. This seems a strange report told to us by two other law firms. Get yourself a good lawyer and get ready to have your life ripped apart for years. We have friends who have dropped this insurance company fast since they have lived this nightmare with us.

Safeco – hear us roar! After what Safeco has not done, we have hired a lawyer and will have our day in court. You will not take us down. The word is spreading to everyone I know and through any means possible. Safeco is the WORST insurance company ever. If you have Safeco now, get out, if you are considering Safeco, run as fast as you can away. Beware of their claims “specialists” they will yell at you and call you obscene names (bi-polar might be prerequisite). Safeco does not have any business ethics or customer courtesy.

We recently had 7 inches of rain. My roof leaked had damaged in my living room ceiling. They came today and gave me a quote for 1/4 of my roof. I have a 1500 deductible. I have never had a claim but my roof is 18 years old it has been through hail, wind storm and ice storm. I couldn’t believe it. As soon as i get my check for $754 i am looking for another company. I have made payments for 17 years and they could not give me a new roof! Everyone else in my neighborhood has a new roof in the last 5 years. This company sucks!

This company does not follow customer friendly business practices and the rates are high. Call around. If you make an error when entering the information for an online payment they will not indicate so with an error code like other companies and utilities, they just send you a cancellation. they don’t offer you a chance to correct the numbers you entered or pay a penalty, they just send you a cancellation. Too bad so sad.

All of these complaints dont surprize me one bit considering my experience with Safeco auto insurance. One of their insured drivers turned left in front of me at the last second. Needless to say, I could not avoid hitting him. He stated that he was at fault and he was cited by the police officer working the accident for an illegal left turn and failure to yield right of way. The police officer determined the safeco insured driver was at fault. Since the safeco insured driver pulled out at the last second and I had no time to stop, the impact pushed him into another vehicle. This driver also places blame with the safeco insured driver. The evidence is conclusive and it is not disputable. Yet, safeco, has been extremely slow and does not want to pay for a rental vehicle. I have been driving for more than 30 years. I have had 3 other accidents of which none were my fault in this time frame. All 3 other insurance companies were easy to deal with and did what they were suppose to do. Safeco is by far the worse insurance company I have ever had to deal with.

If everyone would completely boycott all safeco products and services, they would be eliminated. End of problem/s. Good riddance!

I also was involved in an accident with a Safeco driver. She had failed to check her blindspot while changing lanes, I had hit the breaks and she still came directly into me and hit my front passenger side tire with the rear of her driver’s side. My tire popped on impact. Safeco admits their driver is 75% at fault, while I am 25% at fault for changing lanes and not stopping in time. Safeco claim adjusters take their sweet precious time to get back at handling claims. In calling my claim adjuster [REDACTED], the call goes straight to her answering machine every time!

I had a very similar accident back in August. The SAFECO driver went through a red light and hit me while I was standing. According to SAFECO’, I was 20% at fault. Have you tried to sue them in the Small Claims Court?

This company SUCKS !!! I had a deer jump out in front of my car which crushed the hood and grille and pushed it in about 12 inches. Safeco was my insurance company. The Safeco representative said it was totaled and was emphatic that it COULDN’T be repaired. Yes, yes it could have been repaired because I’ve had a very similar accident repaired and I spent 3 years in auto mechanics. The reason he said that is because the repairs would have been above $5000 and instead of shelling out money to fix my car (you know, the reason I pay money monthly to my auto insurance) they wanted to screw me so they said it couldn’t be fixed. The Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds values for my vehicle were around $5000. Safeco said they don’t use those figures (of course not, why would they use recognized values), they said they pay street value. I found 6 vehicles like mine on Autotrader, IN MY AREA (they were all whiney about that too), and none were selling for less than $6000. Safeco kept insisting that this wasn’t street value and kept offering me $2000 for my car. So they will ignore any evidence you have as to the value of your vehicle and insist that it is worth far less, because hey, we excel at screwing our customers. I said I was going to talk to an attorney, which I did. None wanted anything to do with the case because it wasn’t an auto accident where I was injured. If any attorneys are reading this, could you please specialize in suing auto insurance companies in this niche. Anyway, I got screwed by Safeco and after receiving the money immediately switched insurance companies. The whole experience made me furious. I would be willing to pay lots more for auto insurance at another company than to go with Safeco because when you need them, they’re just going to screw you. How exactly do you replace your $6000 car with $2000 ?!?!? Stay far away from this company.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH SAFECO WAS NOT A GOOD ONE. I PAID MY DOWN PAYMENT AND THEN THEY TRIED TO CANCEL MY POLICY FOR THEIR MISTAKE. THEY REINSTATED IT AND THEN I SENT 3 MORE PAYMENTS IN. THEY SAID BECAUSE I CHOSE NOT TO HAVE MY PAYMENT DEBITED FROM ACCOUNT THEY WANT ME TO PAY AN ADDITIONAL 181.00. THEY ALSO RAISED ON MY POLICY WITHOUT ANY KIND OF NOTIFICATION. THEY ARE NOT TAKING ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY OF THEIR ACTIONS. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THEN TO ANY ONE NOT EVEN MY WORST ENEMY. JUST A BUNCH OF BS. I AM GOING TO REPORT THEM TO THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU ASAP.

My experience with Safeco auto insurance has been very good, covering all the cars in my family, for more than 15 years. They have paid any and all claims without complaint, quickly enough and in amounts acceptable to both myself and third parties when necessary. Any Safeco personnel I’ve dealt with have been both competent and friendly.

This last month, Safeco reimbursed me the full amount (minus a $100 deductible) for a factory-glass windshield replacement by my car dealer, needed because of a large rock-chip crack. This was beyond my expectations, since I was the one that insisted on using factory windshield glass, even though my policy doesn’t obligate it.

I’ve compared my premiums against quotes from other auto insurance companies, and Safeco is not the least expensive, but the difference is not enough to motivate me to change, given the services I’ve received.

I would NEVER recommend Safeco to anyone. They have been nothing but horrible. I was in a not at fault accident & they treated me like it was my fault. Extremely rude, denied to fix certain things on my vehicle that were damaged in the accident but didn’t bother to let me or the body shop know they denied them. They told the body shop they would get back to them & not to start any work on my vehicle till they said & one day I received a call from the car rental company saying I needed to turn in my rental car as Safeco would no longer pay for it. In addition I had my payment set up on EFT coming out of my mom’s account & several times they took $ out when they weren’t suppose too. I finally switched to have it come out of just my savings account, they processed my payment thru an account that didn’t exist therefore my policy canceled, after fighting with them for days & more rude customer service they finally fixed it. We confirmed the account number & deduction date just to have them deduct it 3 days early & once again not notify me. I found out when my ins broker went to remove a vehicle off my policy. After making a payment of 3 times my normal payment they reinstated my policy with a lapse in coverage & refuses to fix the lapse even though the problem was their fault. And my latest issue…I went to add another vehicle on to my policy to find out my policy was canceled & they sent me a refund to a credit card that was not mine, instead of reinstating my policy & taking the other vehicle off. Then they wouldn’t fix the problem till I made another payment to them even though once again this was their fault. I’ve spent hours upon hours fighting with their rude customer service agents just to get no where. This last incident was my last straw. They have caused me nothing but lots of money, stress & major inconveniences. I have nothing good to say about this company!

I am a 64 yr old idiot who has stuck with Safeco for auto & home since … well, always. This was a huge mistake. As far as homeowners goes, I have never submitted a claim, and I’ve had it since 1987. As for auto, they obviously don’t want me as a client. My sin? I get a speeding ticket or two a year. I totaled a car in 1986. Wow. Since then, just one fender bender & I scrapped a pole backing up in the parking lot. But whatever parameters Safeco is using to choose clients, I am obviously well out of it. They sent me an annual bill for $1900 for auto insurance. I guess since I was stupid enough to pay their outlandish bill last year, they’d just pile it on this year. Finally wised up (it’s hard at 64) and switched insurance companies. What a crock!

Dear Safeco Insurance. Rather than wasting my energy on a lawsuit for what would have been a very small claim on the homeowner’s policy for our residence we have held with your agency for the last 14 years (and 15 years prior on a previous residence) I will post my rant here for all my friends to enjoy. Last spring, you alerted me that you needed to change underwriters on the small secondary property we have also insured with you for 29 years straight which I use for my business property. No problem, although you left me hanging for six nail-biting weeks with no insurance while you came up with a new policy, which I signed, not realizing that “New Home Policy” meant “New Home,” not “New Policy.” I can’t imagine why I would expect that you would suddenly classify a property you have insured for me as a business property for almost THREE DECADES as a “new home.” Silly me.

Imagine our surprise when we called you to file our VERY FIRST CLAIM in 29 years for some minor damage when a pipe leaked and ruined a section of the hardwood floor in our primary residence. You informed us that for some reason, the new policy on our business residence was construed to mean we had moved and you had cancelled the policy on our primary residence last month. Didn’t we notice that our autopayment wasn’t charged last month? No we did not–THAT’s WHY WE HAD IT ON AUTOPAY! SO WE DON’T HAVE TO WORRY THAT WE MISS A PAYMENT! AND WHY WOULD WE HAVE MOVED OUT OF OUR HOUSE WITHOUT INFORMING YOU? AND WHY OH WHY DID YOU JUST SEND THE BILL FOR MY BUSINESS PROPERTY TO OUR PRIMARY ADDRESS WHERE WE APPARENTLY NO LONGER LIVE? And why did you say you sent us a letter informing us about this to an address where we wouldn’t get it? Bye, bye Safeco. I have a new agent with a new company. And I have a lot of friends who are realtors, property managers, homeowners, and business owners. Hope it was worth it to you.

Stay away from Safeco if you are considering homeowner’s insurance, as they are quick to collect their premiums and difficult in connection with claims.

It’s their money when they invoice and their money when it comes time to file a claim. My roof was determined to be un-insurable by lender a to a purchaser of my home but Safeco adjusters (visits by two company adjusters) determined that there was insufficient damage to pay one dime in spite of the fact that wind turbines looked like they had been hit by a shotgun blast and ridge / field shingles had many hailstone hits. Shop elsewhere. If they decline your claim, take them to small claims court.

We had a roof claim due to a recent tornado. The SAFECO claims adjuster came out and basically said our roof was fine, just wind damage. We had shingles pulled off the roof and lines of shingles pulled up. He said the roof just looked bad, but will last another 5 years (roof is 11 years old). In the meantime, most of my neighbors have had roof replacements. I called a contractor out who stated the roof was seriously damaged, not only from wind but hail. We called SAFECO out again. Basically, the adjuster said we had to file two claims..one for wind damage and one for hail. We have a $2500 deductible and our estimate is $7000. Also, since only half the roof was damaged with hail (the whole roof had wind damage), they will only pay for 1/2 the roof (who gets half a roof installed?). So basically, they fixed it so we would have to file two separate claims, each which would come in under the deductible…and get this, if we file the claims (whether we received payment or not) we would be stuck with SAFECO for 3 years since no other carrier would take us. Needless to say, we have to fix the roof ourselves, and we are dumping SAFECO and filing a complaint with the Department of Insurance.

I have yet to contact the California Department of Insurance, but I’ll tell you, I could have sat down and typed the letter today had I not errands to run. It’s up for tomorrow because I have heard from the individual assigned to my “claim” which really does not exist, and she is adamant that the mishap was my fault even though there was no police report and no payment of funds from Safeco to repair my headlight/signal light lenses. This is after I wrote her and asked her to void the “claim” because I claimed nothing. I was told by her that the “Title 10 Review Committee” would have to look at ‘the claim’ and make that decision. She provided me with a P.O. Box number in Los Angeles that looked pretty much the same as one I read about on this forum. I told her ‘no, thanks’, I would take my cause elsewhere.

Generally, I have had excellent results with Departments of Insurance for Illinois and Wisconsin as to varying insurance matters. The New York Department of Insurance is 4 Stars (a life insurance matter). No beating around the bush from any of them, and they will intercede if/when necessary. The way I feel about them is, it’s nice to know you to have somebody out there that is knowledgeable and fair.

I was hit by a Safeco insured while I was stopped at a stop sign. The driver admitted full responsibility as did the adjuster. Safeco offered a reasonable value for my totaled car (what do I know?) but Safeco proceeded to reduce the amount by administrative, forklift and restocking charges of $560. After I complained to Safeco that tort law requires that I be made whole (not reduced by non-sensical charges) and filed a complaint with the California Department of Insurance, in apparent retaliation against me for the complaint, Safeco REDUCED the payment to me by an ADDITIONAL $700 bringing the total deducts to $1250. In addition, they ELIMINATED my rental car reimbursement retroactive one month with no notice whatsoever. I haven’t even gotten to the medical claims yet and they are playing a lot of games. I have not accepted their offer and will likely have a multi-year battle against them.

Their moves are not only unlawful but immoral , imperial and bullying. I suggest all folks in a similar situation file complaints with the state insurance departments as well with Safeco directly. Their parent company, Liberty Mutual, should also be informed by letters to the CEO and board of directors members. This is a very large class action suit waiting to happen.

I can feel your anger and frustration. IT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT, BUT YOU HAVE TO HOLD THE BAG! This is why I am so paranoid about sudden stops… one of the first things I do is check my rear view for day dreamers.

Someone hit me from behind as I was stopped at a light many years ago. My car was no more than 2 years old. At the time I had AllState, and I have never purchased insurance from them since.

The guy who hit me showed up in court and was ordered to pay me monthly because he did not have liability insurance. He packed and left town. AllState totaled my car. Here I am single mother, pregnant. I wound up walking blocks to day care with my daughter, then running for the bus trying to get to work for years before I could afford another car. AllState paid all but the last car note which I had to pay.

Many, many years later, I have an older car that has a low book value but it’s good for another 100,000 miles! If I am hit, the parts will be so expensive, an insurance carrier will want to total me. I have been seriously thinking about getting rid of a high comprehensive premium and just taking liability. That which I save from the comprehensive premium, I might want to simply “bank” so I have my own parts fund. I fought to keep the very same car from being totaled in 2007 — for 6 months — because State Farm wanted to “ratio” it out at 68,000 miles. I finally won, but I paid the price (that would be at least 5 pages of explanation).

I would pester the state department of insurance to make things right for you. (You heard me say, ‘pester’ if you feel no one is listening to you.) You have been harmed.

I was recently in an automobile accident that was 100% not my fault. The other driver accepted total liability. At first Safeco was nice and apologetic. They were very quick to start the process of making a claim. This was too good to be true. When it came to making an adjustment for my car and getting the money from the liable insurance company, Safeco acted like they were the ones that had to pay for my car. They gave me the least amount possible, and did not take my receipts for the very expensive brand new snow tires I put on the car. They are currently selling my car to an auction company, which they make a profit on. Safeco is suppose to have my back. This is what I pay them for. More interesting is that after each adjuster in each department has the conversation they need to have with you, they will no longer return your phone calls if you have any further questions. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY WITH THIS COMPANY. They are all smoke. As soon as I am finished with my claims, I am moving on. May everyone who reads this tells someone else. Word of mouth prevails.

Filed 2 claims, one for roof damage from tree that dropped a branch and a burglary that occurred that caused break in damage. Great service on both claims and fast but just got non-renewal letter for “water damage & property loss! Thx safeco Great doin bizz with ya.

I am looking for an insurance company for homeowners insurance, getting quotes, looking at reviews, etc., I had received a quote from Safeco, but after reading these reviews I will continue looking elsewhere.

I can’t imagine a worse company. As mentioned prior, I was hit by a Safeco insured. It was finally settled yesterday FIVE YEARS after the fact with my having many residual symptoms from the injuries caused.In our screwed up state, Tennessee, you can’t even mention the insurance company much less tell how bad they have been. But they can level anything back at the plantiff, lies, etc. A terribly screwed up situation that the insurance industry has been able to buy with the legislators taking all they can get and we got quite an education of just how crooked it all is. Once again, DON’T BUY SAFECO!

Don’t get Safeco. Worst company if you are on a budget. I have had them for over 10 years and never once put a claim on them, but still they feel they have to raise my rates every few months. I’m done with them.

Heaven help you if you get hit by a driver insured by Safeco! After being ignored, shunted around, lied to, and subjected to abuse, name calling, and general nastiness, they will blame you for not “mitigating” their costs. They will bully you, and try to confuse and obfuscate any issue they can, and expect you to settle for any pittance they deem the lowest they can possibly offer, then deduct their costs from it.

This is by far the WORST company I have EVER dealt with. They cancelled our policy over $13.33! We didn’t even find out til we got the letter from the DMV. Our renewal was up, why not add it to the next bill? Why not pick up the phone? The representative Suzette was RUDE, had NO communication skills- it was like she was reading from a script….

If you read a positive review for safeco, then my bet is they work for safeco. This is by far the worst ins. company for taking care of their clients. In life you get what you pay for, if you choose this company, and have a claim, good luck, you have been warned. They are horrible.

We paid our deductable 4 months ago and Safeco didn’t try very hard to help with our case, we still have not got the money back and they are so unprofessional when handling our case. Decided to change insurance companies Right Away!

As like many others it has been over 6 months ,and I still have not been completely reimbursed for a totaled trailer and truck repair that a SAFECO insured driver caused. I suggest you seek insurance from another company since they will do nothing but give you a run around, pass you from claims adjuster to adjuster, and screw you every which way they can. If you do have to deal with them, get an attorney right a way.

VERY UNHAPPY – Ok now i am just ticked off, my car insurance went up 400.00 plus with Safeco, No accidents or tickets – Hello- my car is getting older! My house Ins. went up 300.00 a year – REALLY PPL. Gov. is taking more our for taxes on Payroll and hey i don’t recall getting a cost of living RAISE. YOU ALL BETTER CK YOURS.

I have been with Safeco Insurance for a couple of years. They keep raising my auto insurance – this pissed me off. My husband and I have good driving records. Safeco said I should bundle my homeowners and insurance policies for lower rates. We did this only for Safeco to cancel our homeowners insurance a less than a month later. I had explained to the agent what all we were doing to our home and was told that would be fine that they would insure us. Instead Safeco screwed us. They should have sent a rep out first to look at our home before we canceled our homeowners insurance with the other company. Now we have to find another company who will insure us at a higher rate. Do not use Safeco. I wouldn’t recommend bundling auto and homeowners either. Right now, I’m looking for another insurance company for my autos just to get away from Safeco all together.

Safeco is a rip-off. I purchased my home and ended up having a leak uner my dishwasher (beneath my counters). Once i noticed the leak, i contacted Safeco; they informed me they will not cover a pre-existing leak. Hard to see being beneath the dishwasher and under cabinetry. I now have a 3k fix that they won’t cover. Safeco is the worst insurance company around, just horrible!

Safeco homeowners insurance is terrible! Be forewarned that judging from my experience, they will ignore you in your time of need and may get you sued. Here’s my story: On the evening of 12/11/2012, the bathtub in the condominium above my condo overflowed because the occupant began to fill the tub and then forgot about it or went to sleep for an hour. The tub has no overflow valve or drain, so that water cascaded over the top of the tub, on to the flood, and then flowed into MY unit through the ceiling. I had gone to bed early that evening but I awoke about 10:25-10:30 p.m. and walked towards the bathroom. As I passed the laundry area I slipped and fell on the wet floor. At first I thought my washer had overflowed, and then I opened the door to the bathroom and water rushed out and there were several inches of water on the floor. Although I was hurt from slipping and falling, I first notified my sleeping husband and then called the owner of the unit (an attorney named [Redacted]) to tell her that something catastrophic was happening. My husband went upstairs and began banging on the door of the unit to tell the renter that the water needed to be shut off. It appeared that the renter had fallen asleep or been distracted and that the water had been overflowing the bathtub for an hour. The next day, SAFECO, the insurance company for the owner of the unit was notified – repeatedly – that an emergency existed and that Servepro or some other company needed to be sent to my condo unit by Safeco to begin assessing the damage and making repairs. SAFECO COMPLETELY IGNORED ME UNTIL A REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE WAS MADE TO THE CALIFORNIA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER.

Well it has been three months still have not paid any of my medical bills nor reimbursed me for any of my expenses. If you have to deal with this safeco HIRE A LAWYER!!!!! It has been only one sided communication always initiated by me.